In the search for solutions for the revival of Idrija miner’s houses, as a part of the project Baths, gothic churches and miners' houses: Youth-led revitalisation of built cultural heritage project, we connected with two other organisations that are also looking for innovative approaches that support the community and at the same time help with the preservation of cultural heritage. As the name of the project suggests, together with our partners from Slovakia and Romania, we will create content for the revival of three unique heritage buildings - a miner's house, a Gothic church and thermal baths.
The project was created on our initiative and is part of the plan for the revival of the Idrija miners’ house Giser, one of the 100 preserved miners’ houses. Because we are aware of the importance of preserving the built heritage and want to bring knowledge and experience from all over Europe to Idrija, we connected with partners from abroad when designing the project. This is how we discovered a partner from Romania (LOCUS), where for several years, they have been renovating the once famous and fashionable Neptune Baths in the thermal town of Băile Herculane. The story of Slovak partners (Goticka cesta), who are restoring a lesser-known Slovak heritage, Gothic churches, is also interesting.
What connects Slovenia, Romania and Slovakia?
Just like the Idrija miners’ houses, which are part of the UNESCO World Heritage List due to their architectural distinctiveness and importance for the mining Idrija, the buildings in Slovakia and Romania are also specially recognised on a European scale. Neptune's Baths were included in the list of the 7 most endangered cultural heritage sites of Europa Nostra in 2022, the Slovak regions of Gemer and Malohont, with their Gothic churches, received the European Heritage Label site.
The activities of the partners will thus be organised around three famous objects of cultural heritage: the 19th-century Idrija miners’ house Giser (Slovenia), the 19th-century Neptune baths in Băile Herculane (Romania) and the St.Ladislaus’ church from the 13th century in Kameňany (Slovakia).
Youth-led revitalisation
Despite the variety of heritage buildings, the challenges of preserving the building heritage in the European area are similar. By sharing knowledge and exchanging good practices with partners, we want to contribute to the preservation of cultural heritage at home and in the wider area. We strive to involve local communities, especially young people, to equip them with new knowledge and approaches in the field of building heritage preservation through project activities.
In the next two years, we will organise various workshops at all three locations, which will also be dedicated to traditional building techniques with local materials. With the help of 3D digitisation, we will collect data on buildings, prepare new heritage products and thus gradually bring them to life and fill them with content. This and many other similar innovative approaches to the revitalisation of cultural heritage were supported through the Created Europe program.
The main goals of the project are:
- to revitalise three heritage buildings through youth-led activities,
- to conduct three MasterClasses for practical training in all three partner countries and
- present the results through a website, magazine, webinars, video reportage, live events, etc.
Project value: €150,519.00
Project duration: 1 January 2023 - 31 December 2024
Partners in the project: ID20 - leading partner, Gotická cesta (Slovakia), Asociatia Locus (Romania)
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
ID20's share was co-financed by the Ministry of Public Administration of the Republic of Slovenia as part of the Public Call for the period 2022 - 2024 for the co-financing of projects of non-governmental organisations selected in tenders co-financed from the EU budget or the EFTA Financial Mechanism Office.
